Yup. For me, the one big issue is that I want the game to auto-pause when certain family events happen - like a child in my family lineage hits 16. Haven’t been able to figure that one out.
So, the pack I bought came with all of the DLC. Should I start with all the DLC installed, or start with the base game and then install the DLC later?
Install them all - the game comes with a launcher that lets you specify which DLC (or third party mod) you want to run with the game. The song packs and faces are strictly cosmetic - they make no difference to gameplay. The major DLC that change the game are:
Sword of Islam - play as a Muslim Ruler
Legacy of Rome - additional decisions and events for the Byzantine Empire
Sunset Invasion - Aztecs invade the west!
The Republic - play as a non-noble ruler of a merchant republic
As I stated before, I recommend turning off Sunset Invasion since that’s an ahistorical fantasy setting. Coming up is The Old Gods DLC, which pushes back the start date to the 800’s AD and lets you play as a pagan Viking or Zoroastrian.
Oh, rad. Thanks! I spent tonight mostly installing/entering Steam keys (urgh) and looking at some tutorials. I watched some of the Let’s Play videos linked earlier, and I also ran across this series of posts on Reddit, which seems pretty good: Reddit - Dive into anything
I read that same guide, but from the Paradox forums. It’s worth going through the somewhat arcane registration process to get access to the official forums:
Evidently, Paradox overhauled the tech system entirely for the new expansion (you get this free even without buying Old Gods). Instead of setting a focus and waiting (a very long time), you earn points for your stats assuming you’re a Duke, King, or Emperor. These then pay to buy techs outright.
…nice!
The CKII tech system is probably one of the most impenetrable aspects of the game. I’ll admit to being one of those “set it and forget it” types. The new system will be a huge improvement.
Whoa, whoa, whoa … sex in a video game? Can someone back up a bit and tell me what this is all about and how I can get involved?
Sorry, it’s all described by semi-random, and triggered events via text. Nothing too salacious. At the risk of pedantry:
In the game, you control one character from your family lineage at a time (usually the eldest or most important), with the goal of growing your family lands and power. Not surprisingly, you’ll want to ensure you have kids. Preferably a lot of them, because it’s a violent time and families can indeed die out for lack of heirs, though cousins and such can make up the difference. And while you do get to decide most events in some fashion, you have limited options and your character may have a moment of weakness and do something foolish.
Anyway, to get back to the point, the thread started out with madsircool’s character, who evidently decided his son’s crumpet was a bit too tart for such a young lad to properly savor… so the old man went a bit TMI. And then his daughter-in-law gave birth to his bastard child instead of his grandchild. Thats… going to be a bit awkward. In-game, he’ll have boosted his relationship value with the Daughter-in-Law, drastically pissed off his son, possibily to thepoint of facing murder attempts, gotten a new heir, and maybe humiliated himself internationally depending on the views of various important figures.
You can get the entire package for 15 bucks. And you’d be suprised by much fun the “Lusty” trait can get. Two young people with that one will be popping out heirs so fast you’ll have to get your own zip code. And if male, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up with about fifteen bastard children with some claim on your titles. 
I’m curious what options the new expansion will have as far as conversion. In the existing game, converting your kingdom is difficult and rather implausible, as you have to arrange an heir of a different faith and then convert your entire state, while also facing internal unrest and external hostility. But the time-frame of Old Gods suggests more flexible options that way. It would be interesting to conquer Hispania as the Moors, convert to Christianity, and then turn around spreading the faih back along the coastline, or conquering the Middle East and converting it to your own Zoroastrianism.
Started my first game tonight. I was playing as the Duke of…crap, I can’t even remember. Some duchy in the middle of England. He started with Leicester, I know that much.
Anyway, two main problems so far. One, I started out with too many holdings in my demesne. (I had 7/3.) I tried to give some away, but every time I tried to give away a barony or city, I got the message, “you can only create barons in minor owned baronies.” I thought I did own that barony. So that was confusing. I was able to give away landed titles to other vassals, though, so that did bring my demesne total down. I don’t really understand why I wasn’t able to give away titles to the minor holdings like cities, though. I am clearly missing some aspect of gameplay here.
The other problem is that by 1072, the Norwegians had invaded and occupied half of my territory and were gunning for the rest. (Well, “trebuchet-ing” for the rest.) I’m not really sure what to do about this. I’m probably just going to start a new game tomorrow and try not to play as stupidly this time.
While this post seems complainy, I am actually loving this game and can tell it is going to suck up all of my free time for the foreseeable future. I spent 20 minutes just picking a wife. (I went with a lusty Danish 16-year-old with a sharp intellect and a taste for intrigue, because honestly, who wouldn’t?)
MsWhatsit, you’re Duke Eadwin I of Mercia. You started with the Duchies of Mercia and Lancaster and the Counties of Lancaster, Derby, Chester, Leicester, Hereford, Warwick, and Gloucester. You are a vassal of King Harold II of England.
When the game starts on 15 Sep 1066, England is already at war with Norway and Normandy. While both the King of Norway and the Duke of Normandy have designs on the English throne itself, they do not necessarily want your lands or titles in particular. You are merely an obstacle on the way to the throne. Whoever wins - Harald Hardrada of Norway, William the Bastard of Normandy, or even your current liege Harold Godwinson of England - will most likely allow you to keep most if not all of what you already own. Just ride out the war and eventually you’ll just get a new boss, same as the old boss. [You probably do want the current King Harold to win, though, as your sister is married to him and is thus Queen of England.]
If you try to give away a holding and the game says you can’t, that means you don’t own that holding. You’ll need to pay attention to the little shields to figure out who owns what, but you most likely won’t own any minor holdings - baronies, cities, and bishoprics. (It’s like you’re the governor of a state, and the cities are being run by mayors.) For example, in the County of Leicester there are three holdings - Leicester itself, which is the county capital, the city of Nottingham, and the bishopric of Newstead. Neither the city nor the bishopric are yours, but are rather owned by your vassals.
Thank you! This is helpful. I had already figured out the problem with the holdings; I’d just incorrectly interpreted part of the game interface and mistakenly thought I personally controlled a bunch of holdings when in fact my vassals did.
Piece by piece it’s all coming together for me. I made some silly mistakes already so I think I’m ditching my first game and starting over, perhaps in Ireland this time.
Make sure your vassals are properly fed or they will make a lot of noise about it.
After all, empty vassals make most sound
The only problem with this particular scenario and one of the reasons playing an English vassal can be dicey in 1066, is the Norwegian and Norman stacks o’ doom will be prowling all over looking to systematically siege enough provinces to gain the warscore to win. It is not uncommon for one of them to veer into the Midlands and start overrunning Eadwin’s lands ( Morcar tends to get hit even harder, as Hardrada starts in York ). When and if they end up winning the war they will take as a possession every province they’ve successively sieged. Which can mean you lose most or all of your provinces to the new king ( who will keep some and hand out the rest to someone else ).
This can be a pretty fun way to role-play assuming you don’t lose it all, as a partially dispossessed Saxon noble looking to rebuild his family’s badly weakened influence in a new non-Saxon regime. And sometimes through sheer luck you won’t lose much at all. But it is something to be prepared for and might be frustrating to brand new players who suddenly find themselves deprived of 80% of their starting lands by William the Bastard and his perfidious Norman lapdogs ;).
Possibly my favorite game.
Good point about losing whichever provinces have been overrun by the foreign invader of the day. You probably don’t want to give away any of your starting provinces, despite the game complaining about your demesne size. I haven’t actually played in England, so this didn’t occur to me. I was completely overrun in one game, as King of Aragon by the Moor, but the Sultan very kindly let me keep my holdings as a lowly count.
Yes, from memory, it’s often worth it to ride the wawe and not giving away too many titles. At least give whatever you can to your heir presumptive.
OK. You convinced me. I’m going to look for interesting DLC and start a new game (apparently, I played one year and a half ago). I’ll pick the first county? barony? (can’t remember which is the lowest title) in alphabetic order, whatever it is.
I had no issues with the previous tech system (mostly based on what your neighbours had with bonuses for the fields you selected). I’m not sure I like the idea of buying tech with stat points. Seems quite a bit artificial and anhistorical to me.
It happened to be the count of Aargau, a guy called Von Hapsburg. I’ll do my best to make famous this very obscure family.
When you said you would be choosing in alphabetical order, I was wondering if you would run into the good count. Be sure to spread your seed far and wide. Have fun!
Great guys, now I’m tempted to pick up CK2 as well. I’ve played EU3 and Victoria II, but I always end up being put off by game-breaking bugs, or “features” that make it less fun. Like in V2, where my growth in power runs into a brick wall because of the bugs in liquor and barrel production (no matter how much I produce, it all gets exported so I can’t build decent mid/late game armies). In EU3 every country I end up running always ends up getting too huge and powerful to manage, or is too hamstrung (Incas, anyone?) to not get steamrolled.
How is CK2 really as far as “fun factor” and playability? How are the bugs? I don’t mind complexity, but is there a lot of micromanagement necessary?
Thanks for any input!
CKII was probably Paradox’s most solid release. I can’t say I’ve encountered any game-breaking bugs, except maybe for your succession law resetting itself when you “promote” yourself (which may in fact be working as designed). It’s also, I feel, one of the most accessible of the grand strategy games. The game gives you a lot of feedback; it doesn’t hide anything and you know, for example, precisely why a vassal hates you an whether a particular action will get him to like you more.
As for fun factor: As in the OP, you can sire a bastard with your daughter-in-law. You can fabricate a claim on the neighboring county. You can plot to murder a rival. You can put down a rebellious vassal, throw him in prison, then take his title for yourself. If you have the “Sword of Islam” DLC, you can play a Muslim ruler, have multiple wives, and kill all your sons for being decadent good-for-nothings. If you have the “Legacy of Rome” DLC, you can play the Byzantine emperor, reconquer the West, and recreate the Roman Empire (never mind those German upstarts who call themselves Roman).